Scent Infusion: Food for Thought

I am imagining the future of the food industry, and I’m trying to decide where I think this jingle will fit in: “The best part of waking up is Folgers coffee infused flavoring in your cup...of water” What do you think? Can you see it? Or rather, can you smell it?

“Infusion Technology”, one of the new and upcoming food trends that we’re really starting to hear about, is the idea that we can infuse products with scent in order to improve, enhance, or even just make seem more fresh, the flavors that we’re tasting. We’ve moved on from adding natural and artificial flavors to our food and beverage management; now we’re adding the scent of flavors, in order to enhance taste.

With food research Studies showing that the human tongue only detects 4 basic taste sensations: Sweet, Sour, Bitter & Salty , and that everything else that we’re tasting comes from our sense of smell, it makes sense that we would want to enhance flavors, in order to be more fulfilled as consumers. Right?

Companies like ScentSational Technologies, who are at the forefront of the infusion technology trend, are working with companies like AriZona Tea to develop aroma enhanced packaging along with their drink ingredients. They do this by adding specially engineered FDA approved food grade flavors within the structure of plastic packaging components at the time of manufacturing. The result is packaging that enhances the aroma profile of a product that improves the taste experience and builds a better connection between the consumer and the brand.

Another plus, ScentSational Technologies is working with companies to improve the nutritional value of products by adding aromas to replace the sugar, salt and oil content in many products. And I’m sure NASA is thanking their lucky stars that they’ve teamed up with ScentSational Technologies to enhance space food products’ flavor, aroma, and taste, there just aren’t a lot of fresh food options in Space.

There are some obvious pros to “smell technology”, but, let’s bring it back down to earth. At what point do we as consumers call it quits on the constant progression of processed foods? For now, I’ll take my Folgers ground from coffee beans.
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